Tongue Twisters Twist Tongues

Unless you've been hiding under a rock or have been stranded on a desert island , you no doubt are all too familiar with these alliterations, otherwise known as tongue twisters.

How many times have you stumbled over the sea of " esses" in: She sells sea shells at the sea shore... ? Or almost swallowed your tongue on the "pees" in: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers... ? Or wallowed helplessly amid the "dubyas" in this classic: How much wood could a woodchuck if a woodchuck chucked wood ... ?

Truth is that the more familiar you are with those tongue twisters above, the easier they are to recite, even at accelerated rates, because you have probably memorized them subconsciously. However, what if you haven't heard them before? Try the following on for size - try wrapping your tongue around them!

Betty Botter bought some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter -
That would make my batter better.
"So she bought a bit of butter,
Better than her bitter butter,
And she baked it in her batter,
And the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit of better butter.

Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?

Mr. See owned a saw.
And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw.
Now See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw
Before Soar saw See,
Which made Soar sore.
Had Soar seen See's saw
Before See sawed Soar's seesaw,
See's saw would not have sawed Soar's seesaw.
So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw.
But it was sad to see Soar so sore
Just because See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw!

If one doctor doctors another doctor, does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does he doctor the doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?

There was a fly and a flea in a flue
They were trapped, what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

A proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot.

You've no need to light a night-light
On a light night like tonight,
For a night-light's light's a slight light,
And tonight's a night that's light.
When a night's light, like tonight's light,
It is really not quite right
To light night-lights with their slight lights
On a light night like tonight.

A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.

I would ask you how you managed, but your tongue is probably in a square knot right now. (I know my fingers are trying to type these.)

No.36